Disclosed herein is an apparatus and method that configures a facsimile transmission protocol for a facsimile device.
Presently, when an internet aware facsimile device is configured to operate over an Internet Protocol (IP) packet based network, there are two options for the configuration. The first configuration uses a fax pass through protocol, such as pulse code modulation. Fax pass through is comparatively high speed, but has a high sensitivity to IP impairments. These impairments include packet loss, delay, and jitter, bandwidth impairments, and other impairments, which can cause call failure. The second configuration is a T38 protocol. T38 is more robust to network impairments and results in a successful call, but is low speed when compared to fax pass through.
Unfortunately, while users prefer a higher speed transmission for their facsimile communications, the higher speed fax pass through protocol is unreliable for IP facsimile communications. Thus, most IP networks must use the T38 configuration for facsimile communications. This results in user dissatisfaction as T38 facsimile communications are slower than pass through communications, which upsets user workflow as users migrate from public switched telephone networks to IP networks.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and method that configures a facsimile transmission protocol for a facsimile device.